Looking for Chet Baker [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Bill Moody (Author, Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

DESCRIPTION FOR 0964413892 (Dead Men):
Jack Starr is of an age where most men are contemplating retirement. Jack, however, has just been released from prison for the murder of his wife. He now prepares to go into his sunset years living in a small hotel room downtown working as a security guard. That was his plan before he found a pistol that has already ended one life and threatens to end his as well.

DESCRIPTION FOR 0964413833 (Solo Hand)
Evan Horne, once a world class pianist, is now a man with a broken hand and a broken career. When former boss, singer Lonnie Cole, asks him to be intermediary in the payment of blackmail, Horne is unable to resist. But trading money for embarrassing photos turns out to be complicated. Pretty soon the money is gone, but the photos haven't turned up. Instead, there's a fresh body on the beach. And Horne is looking more and more like a suspect.

DESCRIPTION FOR 0964413825 (Looking for Chet Baker-Audio Book): Evan Horne, recovering from both the injury to his hand and to his psyche, is on tour in England, hoping to concentrate on music and not on crime. But his old friend, Ace Buffington, who's led him into trouble before, shows up with a contract to write a biography of legendary trumpeter Chet Baker. Baker died of a fall from the window of his hotel in Amsterdam in 1988. Whether he accidentally fell, or was pushed is one of the mysteries of the jazz world. Evan resists this adventure until Ace turns up missing and leaves him no choice. To find Ace, he will have to dig into the mysterious death of Chet Baker.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I'm a pushover for minor keys, minor chords, minor blues. Always have been," says jazz pianist and amateur detective Evan Horne. "I was drawn to those players and composers for whom minor keys and blues-drenched creations were a way of life." A blues-drenched creation aptly sums up Moody's sad and mellow Evan Horne mystery, his fifth (after 1999's Bird Lives!), in which his suffering hero, still recovering from the aftereffects of the violence of earlier cases, decides to get away and takes some gigs in Europe. In London, Horne meets an old friend, Ace Buffington. An English professor who needs to publish one more book to achieve tenure, Ace wants Horne to help him research real-life jazz great Chet Baker. In 1988, Baker fell (or was pushed) from his hotel window in Amsterdam, i.e., he died "under mysterious circumstances." Horne has no interest in more detective work, but when he gets to Amsterdam, he discovers that Ace has disappeared. Since the police express little interest in finding the missing professor, Horne is obliged to go looking for his buddy himself. Ace's trail parallels that of Chet Baker's last days, so Horne has to learn a lot more about Baker, his legendary talent, his tragic addiction to drugs. Moody does a wonderful job of re-creating the man and his times. For anyone interested in jazz, this is a must. For anyone just interested in a good mystery, this is just what the coroner ordered. Agent, Philip G. Spitzer. (Mar. 13)Forecast: As a jazz drummer and respected critic in the music world (Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association, and Dick Conte, of San Francisco's KCSM/KKSF, supply blurbs), the author is well positioned to push this latest jazz mystery to the obvious crossover audience.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Series narrator/sleuth Evan Horne has success playing jazz piano in Europe after recovering from an injury to his hand. He winds up in Amsterdam, stays at the same hotel where some 11 years earlier jazz musician (and junkie) Chet Baker mysteriously fell to his death from an upper window, and becomes concerned about the disappearance of a friend researching Chet's life. Horne's own search involves a local jazz archive, a marijuana "restaurant," other American expatriate musicians, and frequent narrative diversions into the convolutions of jazz. Intricately described, carefully paced, and gently suspenseful, this is fitting for most collections.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Dark City Books; Unabridged edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0964413825
• ISBN-13: 978-0964413825
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,410,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solving A Jazz Fan's Mystery, March 25, 2002

By 

Chris Fodor, writer (Oscoda, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looking for Chet Baker: An Evan Horne Mystery (Evan Horne Mysteries) (Hardcover)

One of the frustrating limitations of writing a mystery novel based on a real and continuing mystery, must be the small amount of wiggle room available in which to be creative and still be faithful to the facts that are known. Thus in this case the real story is the time, place and setting of the jazz world in which Chet Baker lived his last weeks and died under mysterious circumstances.
Having read the four previous jazz mysteries by Bill Moody, and enjoyed each of them, I found this one to be the best. The story, mostly set in Amsterdam, is atmospheric, and keeps the reader's interest all the way through both with jazz related information and the longing to know whatever might be learned from the author's research into the strange and sudden death of Chet Baker. This is a lean book that sticks to the point without either going off on tangents, losing its way in sub-plots or developing any bazaar theories. This story of what might have happened to Chet Baker is both realistic and satisfying.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evan Horne Series by Bill Moody, April 15, 2002

By 

Sandra in Motown "MotownBabe" (Motown) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Looking for Chet Baker: An Evan Horne Mystery (Evan Horne Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This is the fifth in a series featuring the reluctant detective Evan Horne who is a jazz pianist. He always finds himself involved in the solution of a mystery that concerns a real life musician. Because Bill Moody is a jazz drummer and journalist, he brings a certain authenticity to his stories and if you don't watch out, he may cause you to buy some new CDs. His other books were about Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Clifford Brown, and this one is set in Amsterdam where Chet Baker died in 1988 when he either fell or was pushed from a hotel window. Poor Evan, he just had a gig and then he finds himself once again mixed up with the police! I have enjoyed each one of the Evan Horne books, waited for this one for about a year, recommend the series to all musicians and mystery lovers...

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moody plays the right mystery notes, March 9, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Looking for Chet Baker: An Evan Horne Mystery (Evan Horne Mysteries) (Hardcover)

After the serial killer fiasco in Ls Angeles (BIRD LIVES) and counseling in New York, jazz pianist Evan Horne flees to London to star in a week long gig. His friend Professor Ace Buffington is also in the city following a sabbatical from UNLV. Ace pleads with Evan to join him in Amsterdam to research a biography on music legend Chet Baker, who died either by suicide or homicide in the city. Evan refuses remembering the trouble that occurs whenever he works with Ace such as he did on the Clifford Brown recording.

Evan travels to Amsterdam for another gig after his successful performances at Ronnie Scott's place. He stays at the same hotel that Chet took that nose-dive in 1988. Ace has already checked out of that hotel so Evan feels relieved that he will not get involved in another case. However, Evan cannot resist peaking inside the room Baker dived through the window. When Evan sees Ace's satchel containing his notes, he becomes concerned for his friend. He begins making inquiries that force him to follow the last days' trail of Chet Baker.

Readers looking for an entertaining, but a bit different kind of an amateur sleuth tale will enjoy LOOKING FOR CHET BAKER and the other novels in the Horne series. The story line provides insight into jazz (past and present) while spinning an engaging mystery involving a real persona. Evan plays the right notes so that the audience feels as if they attend a masterful concerto written by talented Bill Moody, whose love for jazz shines through each Horne selection.

Harriet Klausner